Disney+’s New Thriller, Playdate, Is About Every Parent’s Worst Nightmare
If you loved the superhero comedy series Extraordinary and are excited about Disney+’s new adaptation of the raunchy Cotswolds novel Rivals, then you’ll be intrigued to hear that the streamer is at work on another British TV series for its platform…
Playdate is a new thriller about “every parent’s worst nightmare”, and is based on the novel of the same name by Alex Dahl. It’s in the works by some of the same people that made It’s A Sin and The Power of the Dog.
What is Playdate about?
Playdate’s central character is Elisa, a mum to two kids, who lives a normal, ordinary life parenting and taking care of her family. Her eldest, Lucia, is nine years old, and at the age where she’s obsessed with the idea of having a sleepover. Lucia has recently become close friends with another child in the area, Josie, and pesters her mum to allow her to stay overnight at Josie’s house. Elisa is somewhat worried at first about her child’s first sleepover, but her anxieties are dispelled after she meets Josie’s mother Rebecca: their house seems idyllic, and Rebecca is relaxed and charming.
When she comes to pick Lucia up the next day, however, she’s shocked to find that Lucia is nowhere to be found- and Rebecca and Josie are also missing. She suspects that Lucia has been kidnapped, and she and her husband Fred immediately get in contact with police. But things are about to get a lot more complicated.
What Else Do We Know?
As an investigation and manhunt begin across Europe, Elisa and Fred come under the intense scrutiny of both police and the press. They always seemed like outwardly normal and happy parents with well-looked-after children, but that perception starts to crumble.
Disney+ teases in their press release that “long-buried secrets come to light”, and the truth behind their family might be more sinister. Then there’s the question of Rebecca and her motive- was she in fact trying to protect Lucia? What happened to Josie? Is it for their own good that they’re kept out of sight? Questions swirl, and perhaps Rebecca is the one experiencing a nightmare and not Elisa…
Is There A Confirmed Release Date?
The plot has us hooked, so we’re excited to see what Disney does with the series. While Playdate is set to enter production soon, it doesn’t yet have any casting announcements, so the synopsis will have to tide us over.
We do know, however that it’s being worked on by Catherine Moulton, who also helped write Apple TV’s Hijack and Sky’s Then You Run. It’s directed meanwhile by Eva Husson, who directed Palme d’Or nominee Girls of the Sun.
